Letters to the editor for Nov. 20, 2009

To the editor:
Are you aware that there is a postage stamp being sold by the U.S. postal service that celebrates Muslim holidays? It is a blue stamp with yellow writing on it. It has been sold now for several years.
This makes me so sad. Why do we need to have a Muslim stamp? Refuse to buy them and let’s make a “stink” with our government.
Dorris Kindvall
Copperopolis

Thank our Veterans

To the editor:
Every Nov. 11, we honor our veterans, women and men who have served our country since the first official war for freedom, the Revolutionary War. It began in my state, Massachusetts, with Paul Revere’s famous ride.
As a kid, I memorized the poem “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.” It was on April 18, 1775. Now, 234 years later we remember those who bravely served our country. Many came home, but were missing body parts and/or their intellectual capabilities for the rest of their lives. Many came home to families and friends to be buried with full military honors. Some never came home. Why? So all of us shall enjoy the freedoms today.
Our country is at war in a foreign and distant land and our women and men continue to defend our freedom.
On Dec. 12, 1968, I enlisted, like my dad, before me — George C. Fry, Sr. (2nd class gunners mate, World War II).
My army buddy and I met at the Los Angeles Induction Station. We trained as combat infantry soldiers. Our comradeship ended tragically. A hand grenade blew up in his hand and, thus, another unthinkable death. These tragedies have happened countless times during the past 234 years. This tragedy haunted me for 39 years. On June 1, 2007, I shared the secret that set me free. There are millions of stories like these.
Commander Phil Hubbs, retired, my comrade of 32 years, flew 358 “combat missions” (two years) off the Kitty Hawk, in Vietnam. On his first mission, he returned to land his plane. It was shot up. He was refused permission. He landed on South Vietnamese soil and was rescued. He was shot down two more times and was rescued. Phil, told his secret to be set free forever, too.
Every day you meet veterans, thank them. Especially, the women and men who have or are serving in harm’s way today.
Pray for world peace, especially in our homeland
George Fry Jr.
U. S. Army, 1968-1970
Angels Camp

Resource summit

To the editor:
I am surprised you call yourself a newspaper. Every year the Resource Summit gets together to bash environmentalists. This is not news.
News would be hard-hitting reporting on the issues and presenters instead of just repeating what the speakers have said. John Buckley was doing your job when he submitted his comments about the keynote speaker.
The speakers and attendees of the event need to realize the times have changed. The forests and meadows belong to all the people, and they need to be managed for the benefit of all the people. Gone are the days when forests and meadows were thought to be an inexhaustible resource.
The present laws that govern use of the forests are written by and for the people, not just special interests. A much better future lies ahead for those who preserve rather than exploit the forest.
Jon M. Sturtevant, chairman
Tuolumne Group of
the Sierra Club
Tuolumne

Socialism

To the editor:
I tip my hat to David Alford’s Nov. 2 letter on health care and people’s interpretation of the “S” word: “socialism,” that dirty little word.
Ever see a silent film depicting Model-Ts on the road before traffic lights? Well, if not for the “S” word, we’d be an intersection of chaos.
Dialing 911 would come with a bill only the wealthiest could read, because we’d be a nation of illiterates. Public schools would fold up faster than a hog farm at a swine flu convention. Well, there’s always private school, but last I heard they weren’t building them in the slums of L.A.
Human nature is to survive. Even criminals have to eat, but if one of America’ s biggest industries, the penal system, no longer had our paychecks to pay the mortgage, prisons would become as occupied as a phone booth.
Lowe’s coming to a neighborhood near you shouldn’t be of much concern. And poor Fox — what will it do without fear to propagate? As the unofficial cheerleader of radical, conservative wing-nuts, they’d be forced to report real news for once.
How ever will Sean Hannity survive without his kryptonite? Oh, Superman! First we took away his phone booth and now his rock!
But remember, without the evil that is socialism, calling for an emergency could only be if you had the money to pay COD. Socialism. It does a body good.
M.C. Long
Sonora

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